Pick Me Up again?
by BrennanTheConqueror
Summary: Serena was suffering from a broken heart. Before getting the chance to pick up the pieces, her life comes crashing down when she is forced to watch the murders of her family. With no where to turn, she runs into the arms of childhood enemy Darien Shields.
1. Chapter 1: The Heartbreak

Pick Me Up Again?

Serena Tsukino was suffering from a broken heart. Just as she begins to pick up the pieces, her world comes crashing down as she witnesses the brutal murder of her family. With nowhere to turn, she runs into the arms of longtime childhood tormenter turned friend, Darien Shields. Will Darien help mend the heart of a damaged young girl?

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Be nice to me this is my first fanfic ^^ I am really excited to be writing this and I am not one of those authors that will give up partway through their story! My plan is to have a good portion of this done before I even post the first chapter. So lucky for you, you can expect some frequent updates! And yes I am aware that I am mixing up the story. My story is very loosely based on Sailor Moon, I mostly just took the characters names and personalities. I promise you will like it! And reviews will make me happy! Even the bad ones!

**DISCLAIMER**: It's pretty obvious, I do not own the characters. Or anything about Sailor moon. The characters you have never heard of are mine, I don't care if anyone wants to use them. I am just purely writing this for fun!

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Chapter One: The Hearbreak

15 year old Serena Tsukino was every girls envy and every mans dream. She had it all, riches, great friends, the perfect boyfriend, and she was breathtakingly beautiful. For someone so young, she already seemed have her life perfectly put together.

"MOOOOOMMMMM!!!! Have you seen my uniform?" Serenas frantic cry hurled down the stairs and her mother called back "Check the laundry room silly!"

Once again Serena was late for school. Hey, I never said she was perfect!

Serena dashed from her room down the stairs, her long golden hair trailing behind her in her trademark hairdo. Two odango's perched on top of her head with long ponytails reaching to the backs of her knees. On most girls, her look would look completely ludicrous, but on her it was perfect. Serena adopted the do' when she was just a little girl and tried to do her own hair for the first time, the pigtails that she attempted ended up looking like two large tangled masses on top of her head that resembled meatballs. After some adaption the look she sports today has become her trademark.

Tearing through a jumble of clothes, Serena digs out her school uniform and gives it a wiff.

"Eh well, it seems relatively clean."

She dashes back up to her room and throws on her uniform in haste, after a quick check in the mirror she deems herself ready to go. Zooming down the stairs, she grabs her bag and bolts towards the door.

"Aren't you forgeting something Serena!"

Serena turns around and sees her mother holding up a carefully wrapped lunch.

"Thank you Mom! I don't know what I would do without you!"

Making a mad dash for the door, Serena flings it open and runs strait into a hard muscular chest.

"Oh! Hey Seiya what are you doing here?" Serena exclaims while reaching on her tiptoes to plant a soft kiss on her boyfriends cheek.

"Well I figured you would be running late and I thought I would pick you up and give you a ride on my way to school."

"Oh THANK YOU! You are a lifesaver! I am so glad I have a sweet boyfriend who will drive me to school!"

Seiya grinned sheepishly and took Serenas hand and led her to the shiny black mercedes.

"I can't wait till I can get my license and drive myself to school." Serena mumbled with a pout.

"Well I for one do not mind picking you up, it gives me an excuse to see you before school starts." Seiya croons into her ear as he opens the passenger door. Serena still can't believe that she managed to snag such a great boyfriend. After all she was only a freshman and she's dating the hottest senior in school. They met on her first day at inglemoor High School, Serena was having a klutz attack when she tumbled straight into the popular senior. After many apologies, and to Serena's surprise, Seiya asked her out. From then on the couple had been inseperable.

Seiya walked around to the other side of the car and climbed in. Placing a kiss on Serenas cheek, he starts the car and peels out of Serena's long twisting driveway. The short drive to the local high school was silent, except for the radio blasting Serenas favorite music of course. During the ride Serenas eyes raked over Seiya. She couldn't help but sigh at his perfectly sculpted features. The high nose, pointed angular chin, jet black hair swept into a long ponytail, and deep dark eyes. He made Serena melt.

"What? Is there something on my face?" Seiya questioned when he caught Serena staring at him. Blushing profusely, Serena bit her lip and giggled "No, just looking at you thats all." Seiya gave her a small smile and returned his gaze to the road in front of him. They pulled into the parking lot and Seiya got out of the car and walked around to open the door for Serena. He took her hand in his and they walked into the school together, emanating a sense of power and beauty. They were the ultimate couple, dominating the school from every spectrum. As they entered the front doors they both hear a loud screech coming from down the hall "SERENA TSUKINO GET YOUR TINY BUTT OVER HERE NOW!"

If Serena didn't know any better she would have thought it was her mother, but as she whipped her head around she came face to face with none other than her best friend Raye Hino.

"Whoa you run fast, it sounded like you were at the other end of the hall." exclaimed Serena.

"Never you mind, don't you think that you forgot something this morning?"

"Um no...."

"You meatball head you forgot to come to my house this morning! We were supposed to go over plans for the beach trip this weekend with the girls!"

"Oh my gosh Raye I am so sorry! I totally forgot!"

"Yeah well don't forget again, we're meeting after school at the temple, and don't be late!" she shouted over her shoulder as she headed to first period.

"Man my memory is getting the best of me." Serena mumbled under her breath. She parted with Seiya when they reached the intersection between the east and west wing of the school. With a heavy sigh she walked into her least favorite class of the day, algebra. Immediately the jumble of students chatting towards the front of the class parted so that Serena could make her way to her usual spot at the back of the class. Shrugging her bag off her shoulder she looked at the blonde to her right.

"Hey Serena, look at this, just got the new Sailor Moon manga!" Mina, one of her other best friends, knew Serenas weakness for the comic. "OHHH how did you get this? Its not supposed to come out till next week!" Serena practically shouted as she snatched the book out of her friends hand. "Well its the perks of having a dad that owns the company that publishes it." Mina explained as she leaned back with her hands behind her head and giving a small shrug. "Oh this is great! I am going to start reading this right now!" Serena buried her nose into the manga just as class began. "Just don't get caught! Daddy will be mad if he finds out I brought that to school." Serena waved her away and went back to reading the comic about a beautiful soldier that fought for love.

"Now class," Ms. Haruna began sternly "We are going to have a new student teacher in the class for the rest of the school year and I expect you to treat him just as you would treat a regular teacher. Class, give a warm welcome to ."

At the mention of , Serenas head snapped up. _You have got to be kidding me, this is my worst nightmare. Why is he coming back to haunt me?_

Sure enough, a tall young man entered the room. Broad shoulders and a well built body filled the space at the front of the class. A head full of thick ebony hair flipped up and a small smile played on Darien Shields lips as he gazed around the room with fierce deep blue eyes. His faced stopped at a slowly shrinking Serena and he let out a chuckle of amusement. The strong jaw turned toward Ms. Haruna and said "Hey no need to make me sound so intimidating." But truth betold he was more intimidating than he gave himself credit for. Every girl in the class eyes widened with pleasure at their hot new student teacher.

"Oh he is so dreamy! Look at his gorgeous face!" the new girl Molly, from New York whispered to the girl next to her in a thick accent. The rest of the girls chattered away in hushed tones about the cute new teacher. Apparently math class was going to get a whole lot better.

Serena continued to shrink down slowly in her seat, hoping beyond hope that Darien wouldn't recognize her. Darien Shields was the son of one of her moms very good friends, and she hadn't seen him since he left for college. _All for the better too, he was so mean. _Serena thought with anguish. All through her childhood Darien relentlessly teased her about her odangos, calling her 'meatballhead', hence forward the name stuck, and a few of her friends and family even picked up the use of the nickname. Among the irritating use of the nickname, he picked on her about just about everything else. When he left for college Serena was glad to be shot of him.

Serena wasn't so lucky, Darien picked her out immediately due to her odangos poking out the top of her head. He smiled and thought that the rest of the year was going to be pretty fun. he hadn't seen the girl in years. And all through his childhood he had a little crush on her, despite the fact that she was five years younger than him. So he teased her to no end because he didn't want anyone to find out about his crush. But seeing his little meatball head again caused a fresh wave of affection to come over him. _Careful Darien, you're her teacher now, you could get kicked out of the program, or worse, arrested. _He said himself with much force. _This is going to be tough._

"Serena are you getting a load of the hunk-o-saurus in front of us? What a babe!" Mina sighed to herself dreamily and leaned forward on her desk so as to give Darien her full attention.

"Mina thats Darien! Don't you remember? He was the jerk who picked on me all the time and gave me that stupid nickname." Serena uttered with impatience. "Oh really? Thats him? Wow someone did some growing up in the last few years." Mina drawled as she eyed Darien with pleasure. Serena shot her friend a dirty look and resumed shrinking in her seat.

"Now class, for the rest of the year I will be sitting at my desk evaluating Mr. Shields for his thesis. I trust that you will all treat him with the utmost respect he deserves." Ms. Haruna told the class with fervor.

"Wow even Ms. H has it bad for him." Mina giggled into Serenas ear. "Great, now everybody is going to just love him." Serena grumbled to herself.

"Serena! Mina! Is there something you would like to share with the class?" Ms. Haruna quipped to the two girls. "No Ms. H!" both the girls chimed back in unison. Serena thought she would die of embarrassment._ Great, already I get reprimanded in front of Darien._

Ms. H sat down at her desk and pulled out a notebook and started to take notes as Darien began the class. After a quick introduction of himself, informing the students he attends the University of Washington and he is working on his thesis project for his masters degree in education, he began the lesson for the day. Serena decided that since she doesn't pay much attention in math anyways, she would resume reading her new manga. Pulling it out, she placed it on top of her math book, hoping that it would give the illusion that she was reading the textbook. Darien wasn't fooled however, after all, he's known Serena for years. "Excuse me Miss Tsukino? I am afraid that I will have to take that away until the end of the hour." Darien said with a flat tone, as if he had never known her previously.

Serenas face went red at the accusation. With her head down, she slowly shuffled towards the front of the class and handed over the Sailor Moon manga. And whispering quietly enough so only she could hear, Darien said with an evil little smirk, "Still reading these silly things? I thought you would have been over such childish activities."

Somehow Serenas face got even redder than before and her face scrunched up in anger. Without a word she turned on her heel and sauntered back to her desk. Darien couldn't help but notice the new womanly body that she had developed since he last saw her. He took in every curve, and sighed to himself quietly. This was not going to be easy for him. It was bad enough that she was so young, but now he was her teacher too? He would just have to suck it up, no way was the little meatballhead going to get the best of him now. Once Serena reached her seat, Darien resumed the lesson and every girl in the class went back to ogling him from their seats.

"If I am not mistaken, Mr. Shields was totally checking you out!" Mina chirped into Serenas ear once she sat down. "Yeah right Mina! No need to make stupid stuff up, he has got to be at least 20 by now." Serena hissed into her friends ear. "Oh so you wouldn't mind if he was?" Mina grinned evily. "Mina you are sick! Of course I mind, I despise the guy!" Serena growled angrily. "Well obviously he doesn't despise you." Mina muttered with a smile. Serena sat back and thought of Seiya beating the pulp out of Darien and she felt better. Even though she knew her boyfriend could never take on Darien, Seiya just wasn't big or strong enough. But nevertheless it still made her feel better.

Soon enough, the class was over and Serena grabbed her manga off Dariens desk and ran out of the classroom before he could talk to her. The rest of the day went by without so much as a glimpse of her old arch nemesis, so Serena deemed the day to not be too bad. After school, she made her way down to the senior parking lot to get a ride home from Seiya, it had been a long day and she couldn't wait to be in his arms. She spotted the black mercedes across the parking lot and made her way towards the sleek car. Seiya wasn't any where to be found, so she decided to wait until he showed up. Bored, she decided to peer in to the heavily tinted windows of the car just for kicks. As she peered into the back window behind the drivers seat, a set of bare buttcheeks slapped themselves against the window.

"What the heck!!!' Serena fell backwards and felt like she was going to throw up because she was so disgusted. Seiya was not going to be happy that some freaks were getting busy in the back of his car! She marched back up to the car and knocked furiously on the window, "HEY! Open up and get outta there! You sickos!" she screeched. Something inside the car rustled and the door slowly opened. Serenas face went from furious to shocked. Inside the car was Seiya, half naked with the school slut, Beryl, sitting on his lap.

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Okay okay, don't hate me for the tiny cliff hanger! I just thought this was a good place to stop otherwise this chapter would be really loooooonnnnnggg! And if it isn't obvious, I am a total Seiya basher so nobody hate me for that either. Don't forget to review! I would really appreciate constructive criticism, so I know what should be fixed. And if you think it's good then I will be posting more! Well I will post more anyways, but I would prefer people to like my story. Review review review!

Thanks!

-The Conqueror

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	2. Chapter 2: The Downfall

Okay so here is the next chapter! Big thank you to my reviewers jessicam242 and KageNoNoku! Keep watch on this fic, I should be posting more in the next couple days!

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Chapter Two: The Downfall

Serena stared at Seiya and slowly sank down on her knees. Forcing back the tears that were threatening to escape, she looked down. She didn't know what to think, how could he cheat on her? He was supposed to be different from other guys. More mature, kind, and loving. After all she was a virgin! And Seiya had never pressured her into anything, he knew that Serena wasn't ready and she thought that he respected that. The thought of her sweet boyfriend cheating on her was inconceivable.

"Seiya..." Serena began.

"No, save your tears. This was bound to happen anyways." Seiya stared at her coldly. "You honestly didn't expect me to stay faithful did you? The minute you told me you wanted to wait till you were married I called Beryl. I knew she would understand my needs."

"Yeah sweetie," Beryl cackled "Seiya here knows he can depend on me for his pleasures. You were nothing but his little toy, he was really just trying to sleep with you and your little friend Mina. He just didn't have the heart to break up with you." She grinned at Serena with a malicious look in her eye.

"No....it's not true...." Serena whispered, a few tears slowly running down her cheeks.

"I am afraid Beryl is right, you have never meant anything to me Serena. After all I am a senior and you are just a lowly freshman. You didn't honestly think that we had anything serious did you? All I wanted was to get into yours and your little friends pants. You're pathetic. In case you haven't figured it out, we're done." Seiyas words cut deep into Serena, the cold look in his eyes showed no remorse.

From her postion on the ground she glared up at Seiya and Beryl. Both of them were terrible. Anger was replaced by Serenas shock and she stood up with fire in her eyes. "How dare you? All you have done is use me. If you didn't want me, then why did you ask me out? Cheating has never been a respectable thing, and as far as I am concerned, you are the pathetic one. You weren't even strong enough to tell me the truth sooner. If anybody is pathetic here, it's you Seiya. Your weak, barely an excuse of a man." and with that she picked herself up and brushed off her skirt. Turning on her heel, she stormed out of the parking lot with her head held high. Despite her strong comback and graceful exit, Serena was breaking on the inside, but she sure wasn't going to show it.

Once she reached the outskirts of the school grounds, she gave in to her tears and ran all the way home. _No, it can't be true, this is a dream, its a dream.... _

After what felt like hours, Serena finally made it to her house two miles away. _Great, forgot about the meeting at Rayes, she will understand._ The sloping lawns and long driveway looked like another two miles. As she trudged her way up the driveway, she saw a car she didn't recognize, she figured her parents were just having a friend over. She hoped to make it up the stairs to her room before they found her and tried to make her mingle with the guest. Ever so slowly, Serena opened the large front door, hoping to not make very much sound. All she wanted was to sit in her room and cry her eyes out. It was one of the worst days of her life.

When no one came into the ornate front hallway, she closed the door softly and proceeded to walk towards the stairs. But once she reached the stairs she heard someone crying softly, thinking it was her mother, she decided that she should go see what was wrong. Walking over to the door of the study, Serena got a very uneasy feeling in her stomach. Dismissing it, she pushed open the door and immediately the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach returned. Something was clearly wrong here.

Her mother was tied up to a chair, duct tape encircling her wrists and ankles. Her father, while untied made no move towards his wife. He stood behind his desk with his hands in the air, as if surrendering. A strange man that Serena had never seen before was pointing a gun at her father, and her mothers sobs were steadily growing louder. The stranger had a mad look about him. Dressed in grubby pants and a dirt stained Disneyland t-shirt, Serena had no idea why someone dressed like this would come to her house. The man had dirty, greasy brown hair that touched his shoulder. A large bald spot was beginning to take form on the mans head, and several gray hairs were peeking out between the dark ones on his head. A long untrimmed beard reached a little past his chin. Most of his face was hidden by the beard and his eyes were small and watery. His short, stubby fingers grasped around the gun were shaking, and the mans arm was trembling slightly.

"Get out of my house." Ken Tsukino said unemotionally to a stranger. Ken turned his head towards the door and the look on his face immediately went from angry to terrified. "Serena, get out of here now, please." begged Serenas father. Serenas eyes widened when she saw the fear inscribed on her invincible fathers face. "Serena, go, please!" Irene Tsukino screamed at her daughter frantically. Serena was frozen, she didn't know where to turn. Clearly her parents were in danger but she couldn't just leave them could she?

"Oh so this is your pretty little daughter? So sad that you never let me meet her before now." the stranger said to Ken with with mock amusement, his voice a higher pitch than Serena would have expected. "Well why don't you introduce us now? After all she has gone her whole life without knowing her own uncle."

The look on Serenas face went from shock to confusion._ What uncle? Mom and Dad don't have any brothers. Not to mention mom and dad are much better looking than this wacko. _Ken looked at the stranger with the most hateful look Serena has ever seen cross her fathers face. "There is a reason that she hasn't ever met you. We don't want our daughter around trash like yourself." The strangers smile was suddenly wiped off his face. "Ken, that hurts." he said with mock disapointment "Well no matter, I will just have to introduce myself then." he finished as he took a step closer towards Serena. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" Irene screamed. Serena backed slowly towards the door, something was obviously not right here.

"Serena darling, I am your Uncle Charlie, don't you remember? Well probably not, the last time I saw you was just after you were born. Ever since then your mommy and daddy wouldn't let me near you." the gleam in his eye was hungry and he stroked a stubby finger down her cheek. He scared the living daylights out of Serena. "But we will be getting to know each other soon enough though, you see, your parents won't be able to keep me away from you now." he spoke tenderly.

"Get away from me." Serena said through gritted teeth. "I don't know you but I know that you are bad news, I suggest you leave before I call the cops." she finished while whipping out her cell phone. "Oh honey, the police won't be able to help you now." he smiled. And with that he pulled a gun out of his pocket and shot her parents both squarely in the head. They both fell to the ground, limp and blood trickled out of the corner of their mouths. All at once everything started spinning, alarms went off in the house and Serena fell to the floor, injured, for Uncle Charlie had shot her in the abdomen. She couldn't see and she couldn't breathe. A pair of feet that she assumed to be Charlies walked out of the room. Serena and her family would all be dead, no one left for Sammy, her brother.

For what felt like hours, must have only been a few minutes. Police and medics arrived at her house and surrounded the place. Serena felt that she was drowning in all the flashing lights and panicking voices. Eyes rolling into the back of her head, Serena felt that she would soon faint.

Blackness was closing in around Serena and she couldn't hear what was going on, all she could feel was strong arms lifting her up and carrying her outside. An ambulence pulled up the driveway and Serena was placed on a stretcher and hoisted into the back of the vehicle. IV's were being poked into her and a breathing mask was placed over her face. Complicated machines spun and whirred as Serena settled into her stretcher. She felt the doors closing and one glimpse out the closing doors showed her two covered bodies, the white sheets stained with blood. The last thing Serena saw through heavy eyes was a fringe of black hair, framing a set of deep blue eyes. For some reason, the eyes made her feel safe. Giving into the unconciousness that was overcoming her, she blacked out.

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Review review review! Thank you for taking the time to read this!

Much love,

-The Conqueror


	3. Chapter 3: The Hospital

**Well I officially feel bad. I am also a huge hypocrite. I said that I would update frequently, but I have not. So here is the next chapter, a full explanation is at the bottom. **

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Sailor Moon. I wish I was cool enough to come up with a clever way of saying it, but I'm not. So there you have it.

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Chapter Three: The Hospital

The hospital was busy, and it just became busier as a team of emergency medical technicians burst into the room pushing a stretcher with an unconscious teenagers on it. The emergency room went frantic as the doctor on call rushed in to give the girl medical attention.

"I need stats, whats her condition?" Dr. Schwartz said as he whipped out a clipboard.

"Shot in the abdomen, directly underneath the ribs on the right side. Needs breathing assistance, unconscious, she has not woken up for about six minutes now." the head EMT stated in a rush.

"Get her ready for surgery, I'll call the emergency surgeon now." Dr. Schwartz rattled off to the EMT. He turned towards another one and gave orders get the surgery room set up and to notify her family. The EMT stared at him and said "Can't, her parents were shot as well but their wounds proved to be fatal, her brother wasn't present for the shooting but he was killed a few hours previously. He was found by CSI's in the canal by the house. I've looked at her file and she has no one else."

Dr. Schwartz let out a heavy sigh, he had only whitnessed a situation like this once in his 24 years of being a doctor. And that was during his residency, so he had no idea what to do. "Well, I suppose we can just wait till she is out of surgery, maybe she has a family friend willing to take care of her that she can call."

"That won't be necessary doctor. The girl will be staying with me."

Dr. Schwartz turned around to face a tall young man who didn't look a day over twenty. "And who are you?" sneered the doctor. He didn't trust this guy, he was way to young to be worried about taking the responsibility of a teenager. And he had no idea what kind of relationship he had with her, if it was a romantic one then he couldn't allow it. The lawsuits could cost him his job.

"My name is Darien Shields and I am an old friend of Serenas family. We have known each other since early childhood." Darien explained. Dr. Schwartz nodded and said "Well since she has no other family, I suppose it would be okay. We will be in touch with her families attorneys and see what the will says."

Darien nodded with understanding. He knew that this would probably happen, but he already knew that Serenas parents had put his parents down as her and Sammy's godparents. Dariens parents were in no position to take care of Serena though, they were just too busy and couldn't offer the much needed emotional support that he could. He never imagined that this would happen to his Serena. He sat in the waiting area of the emergency room with his head buried in his hands. Frustration built up in him as he waited hours for some news of Serenas condition. Finally, a nurse came to see him and said that she was in a room on the fourth floor and that the surgery was successful. Darien breathed a sigh of relief and made his way to Serenas room.

Darien took a peek inside the doorway before entering, she looked so helpless hooked up to all those machines, IV's poking out of her skin, her hair a piled mess on top of her head. Nevertheless she was still beautiful to him. His heart ached watching her sleeping form. The doctors said she should wake up soon, the anesthesia should wear off in an hour or so. Moving slowly, he made his way to the side of her bed and sat in the only available chair. He hesitated as he reached for her hand, then carefully caressed it between his own. He stroked her small fingers while he watched her sleeping.

_What am I going to do? Will she let me take care of her? After all that we have been through?_ Dariens thoughts were clouded. He had no idea what her reaction would be when the days events sunk in. After a few minutes, he realized that he was exhausted. He hadn't slept since the day before and he really needed to, but he wasn't about to leave Serena. He decided to rest his head on her bed, right next to her face. _Hopefully I'll wake up before she does,_ he thought with a yawn. Slowly, he drifted off to sleep.

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Serena woke an hour later, but she was too afraid to open her eyes. _This is not my house, the sounds and the smells, its all wrong. _She said a silent prayer in hopes that the nights events were all just a bad nightmare. And who was holding her hand? She nervously opened her eyes. She was in a small hospital room, with a window to her right and a small bathroom in the opposite left corner. Next to the door of the bathroom there was another door she assumed was the way out of the room. Everything was quiet except the spinning and whirring machines she was hooked up to. Three different IV's were poking into her skin, dripping medications in her bloodstream. She looked up and saw a small TV screen hooked to the wall. It was playing her favorite TV show as a child, but even Sailor Moon couldn't provide the comfort she needed now.

Everything on her body hurt. Especially her abdomen, she didn't want to move. Everything was just so sore. She felt weak and helpless, it was hard for her to keep her eyes open, everything felt heavy and sluggish. Maybe it was just the medication..

She looked over to see who was holding her hand, hoping to see her fathers strong hands enveloping her her own. Even though she knew it wasn't his, they felt to warm and unfamiliar, but nice nonetheless.

She let out a small gasp. The last person she expected to see holding her hand, while sleeping peacefully, was Darien Shields. Anger started to well up in her out of habit, but then she realized he wasn't doing anything wrong. After counting to three and calming herself, she looked over at his face. It was a little too close to her own for comfort, but nonetheless she found his presence calming. After a moment of studying him she realized how attractive he was, his strong jaw, and full lips, then there was that perfect ebony colored hair. It fell into his eyes just so, and even though they were closed Serena had the intense cobalt blue color ingrained into her mind. Guilty of the thoughts she just admitted to herself, she blushed for no reason. He wasn't even awake so why was she getting so embarrassed? _Because he is so much older than me probably, yeah, thats it! _she smiled with her little excuse to herself. _Why is he holding my hand?_ she wondered. Probably just because he felt like he needed to be nice.

Serena noticed him stirring and decided she didn't want to be caught staring at him, so she decided to feign sleep for a minute.

Dariens eyes fluttered open, he wondered how long he had been out. Checking his watch he saw that it had only been for a little while. _Thats good, I don't want Serena to catch me sleeping. _He noticed that she had shifted position a little bit. Before she was laying on her back facing the ceiling. She was still on her back now but instead her face was turned towards his. Smiling to himself, he sat up and surveyed his surroundings, he wondered how much longer it would take for her to wake up. When she did, he was instructed to call in the nurses. His eyes drifted back over to her sleeping form, she moved a little and her eyes opened slowly. He gazed down on her until she realized he was there. That was when he noticed he was still holding her hand. He quickly let go of it, she didn't need to catch him doing that.

Serena decided that it was a good time to wake up now, she didn't want Darien to just sit there for too long then decide to leave. _Wait why would I care if he left? He is a jerk! But he is here with me..._ Either way, she decided that she didn't want to fake being asleep anymore. So while opening her eyes slowly, she hoped to get a peek at him before he noticed her. Instead she found that his head had moved and that he was sitting up looking at her. She wondered why he let go of her hand, shrugging it off she gave Darien a small smile.

"What happened?" she asked.

Dariens heart sunk a little bit. He was hoping he wouldn't have to explain so soon. But he would rather be the one to tell her instead of some random doctor.

"Well, you took a bullet to the abdomen, just under your ribs. It was lucky he hit there. If he hit anywhere else there was a high chance of you becoming paralyzed, or you would have died." Darien explained. He gave her a smile of encouragement, he didn't want to break the death of her parents to her the second she woke up.

"Oh, okay." was all she said back. Why was he being so nice? Where was Sammy and her parents?

"So where is everyone?" she asked this time.

Dariens eyes fell briefly to the floor for a moment. Then he regained his confidence and said "Well all the doctors and nurses are attending to the rest of the patients right now but they told me get them when you woke up. So I suppose I should go do that now." He got up out of his chair and started walking to the door.

"Wait!" her voice came out in ragged tones. "I meant, where is my mom and dad? And Sammy?" she let out with a pleading look in her eye.

Darien looked at her and decided that now was just not a good time, not until she got the proper medical attention she needed. The last thing he wanted to happen was for her to go unconscious again or to get an anxiety attack.

"I...I should go get the nurses." he mumbled in reply. With his head bowed he exited the room.

_Does this mean what I think it means? No he would have told me. So they must be somewhere around here too. _With that Serena settled back into her bed and waited patiently for the nurses and doctor to arrive.

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I want to thank my reviewers, I'm glad you like me enough to say something! And I have been going through a huge writers block, so if you have any cool ideas for my story, PM me and we can chat about it. If I use your idea I will credit you on here somewhere. I will try to post something else soon, don't know when because I am swamped with calculus homework right now. But until then, REVIEW!

Much love,

The Conqueror


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